TV
Reviews
BEETHOVEN BBC2, Fri 3 Jun, 9pm .00
As part of an almighty Beethoven season that spans television, radio and interactive services, the BBC is screening this rousing three-part drama- documentary on the life and legacy of this most influential of composers.
Part one follows Beethoven’s development from an ambitious and prodigious child in late 18th century Bonn, through his early spell in the courts of Vienna with Haydn, to his creeping torment at the onset of deafness. The cute and enigmatic presenter/conductor Charles Hazelwood (fresh from The Genius of Mozart) mooches around Vienna, tying together the drama‘s narrative and adding a little further insight into the relationship between the composer‘s personal life and significant works.
Taking its lead from letters and journals of the time, Beethoven - The Rebel boasts mock interviews to camera from his contemporaries, a liberty that, though decidedly daft at first, is not so hard to come to terms with - much like the fact that each and every character is so very, very English. Paul Rhys, however, is ideally cast as the troubled genius driven from discomfort to smouldering despair. Overall, this is the typically tidy production that the BBC is so good at, capturing eloquently the passion and defiance of this great historical figure.
Other programmes in the season include indepth examinations of ‘what make his symphonies great’ in Beethoven Uncovered, a series of Beethoven piano sonata masterclasses with Daniel Barenboim and a full week of the complete works of Beethoven courtesy of BBC Radio 3.
(Mark Edmundson)
JOHNNY VEGAS: 18 STONE OF IDIOT
Channel 4, Fri 27 May, 10.15pm 00
98 THE LIST
' “day night it"‘t1'4
2"anterrork of the worst
".i"'ti~'llll()lil' can at us. The only "1; grace is that ' . (Larr. incredibly.
, nvolveiiient ill
r':at'iit\,.
,(“\i «It; .'
l‘iI
lair,
been nothing less than a Curse. The iiia\.ei‘.ck likes of Chris Morris and Abi Titmi.ss haw all suffered at the hands of the slot that The til/ord forgot. Hoping in some showbi/ (:huins Ray Winstone. Neil Hamilton and some bloke off some shopping channel or other) doesn't work with everyone looking as bored as the audience at home vrill surely be. l:veiyone. that is. {liSlHti froin the disgraced former MP. who clearly \"lIH pay plenty to be allowed to, gyrate n a (,il(lt‘ ‘<:.' 1,.” "innate 'zii'iiistiii‘oi‘t'.
‘Hliitl‘ Donaldson.
WAR DOCUMENTARY 9/1 1: THE PLANE THAT HIT THE TOWER - THE TRUE STORY
Five, Mon 30 May, 10pm .00
Fives drama documentary arrives trumpeted as 'the most detailed reconstruction yet' of the final hour of American Airlines Flight 1 1 before it was piloted into the World Trade Centre's North Tower. Unfortunately. much of the painstaking detail here is of the sentimental variety. focusing on indiVidual Victims of the disaster. their spouses and children. while av0iding any real insight into the Wider implications of the t 1 September attacks.
Inevitany there's a fair amount of spurious speculation as to what the various players might have been thinking or doing in the run“) to the atrocny. white the hiiackers are. of course. introduced to a doom- ;aden soundtrack that would have had Darth Vader quaking in his bovver boots. The meat of the recenstruction
features some harrowing.
dramatic moments but. overall. there’s very little here that's panic-titan; revelatcry.
Asian Radcliffe
SEX DOCUMENTARY SEXUAL INTELLIGENCE Channel 4, Mon 30 May, 11.25pm .00
I wonder if Kim Cattrall ever shoots up in bed in
the middle of the night. ('lrenched in sweat. the nightmare of si.)ending the rest of her career being typecast as a sexually adventurous older woman fresh in her mind? Is it possible that she spends her days reminiscing nostalgically for the creative freedom of her roles in it/ianneguin. Police Academy and Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Cot Int/y? In this 90-iiiiiitite documentary. Kim is very much in breathless Samantha Jones mode as she attempts to unlock the mysteries of erotic desire. Her thesis is that while we are more open and knowing about sex than ever. our desires still have the power to surprise us: heck. they may even control us. While much of this involves little Kim floating around in various costumes and waxing knoWineg in fruity tones about different sexual behaviours. there are more inSIghtful contributions from the 'ordinary' people llltGlVlBH’Od about their sexual and relationship experiences and fantasies. (Allan Radcliffe)
Big Brother Channel 4, Fri27 May, 9pm Into its sixth series now. It's flown by. hasn‘t it? Sportscene: Tennents Scottish Cup Final BBCI. Sat 28 May, 7pm Dundee United aim to upset the odds big style as they take on holders Celtic. Derren Brown: The Gathering Channel 4, Sun 29 May, 70pm A studio filled with brave/desperate celebs wait to see what the showman is up to with this live magic-fest.
Power Lesbians Sky One, Sun 29 May, 70pm Rebecca Loos goes deep into a jOurney chasing the women who are Changing the face of Hollywood forever.
Desperate Housewives Channel 4, Wed 7 Jun, 700m The ladies bring their twitching cunains down with a double-bill grand finale (pictured). Ladette to Lady Scottish, Thu 2 Jun. 9pm A bunch of screaming harlots turn into genteel dames in this unlikely reality show. Mind you, is there any other kind of reality Show?
8 Out of 10 Cats Channel 4, Fri 3 Jun. 9.30pm It's a game Show. And Jimmy Carr presents it. Oh well.
A Picture of Britain BBC I, Sun 5 Jun. 8pm Dawd Dimbleby presents this six-part series which celebrates the landscape through the eyes of writers. composers and artists.
House Five, Thu 9 Jun, 9pm A five o'clock shadowed Hugh Laurie plays a mischievous doctOr in this soaraway hit from the US Of A.